Getting into Central governmenttechnical education institutions will soon become more streamlined. In a move to cut down on the number of different entrance examinations, the government has decreed that these institutions will now have to base their admissions on the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education.

Now, institutions like the National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Information Technology and School of Planning and Architecture have to conduct their admissions through the AIEEE.

Bunking, that fine art, is set to become even more difficult to master. A UK school has started 'fingerprinting' students before each lesson in a bid to combat truancy. All 1,300 students of Impington Village College, near Cambridge, have to place their fingertips on a scanner, to register them as present. The scheme is the first of its kind in the country. If a pupil does not check in, the system sends a text message or e-mail to his or her parents, telling them their child is absent. The school calls up parents who do not have a computer or mobile phone alerts.